What has Coca‑Cola done to ensure water is used responsibly in its operations in India?

India has over 17 per cent of the world’s population, but less than 4 per cent of the world’s freshwater resources. Consequently, water availability will continue to be a serious issue in many parts of India.

At Coca‑Cola, we believe we can be part of the solution to India’s water issues and we’ve made water stewardship the primary focus of our sustainability efforts throughout the country. Our efforts start inside our plants where we focus on improving our water use efficiency and treating the wastewater from our manufacturing processes before it is discharged from our bottling plants.

We’ve improved our water use efficiency by 14 per cent since 2004 and we’re continuing to invest in new innovations and plant processes to help us make even more improvements moving forward. We’ve also aligned every one of our plants in India with the Indian Pollution Control Board norms and our own stringent, global wastewater treatment guidelines. This is a significant commitment for our business; many people are unaware that some 70 per cent of industrial wastewater is discharged to communities and ecosystems without treatment in the developing world. We believe industry needs to take action to change this poor practice.

Outside our plants, we are working to replenish 100 per cent of the groundwater that we use throughout India. To date, we’ve replenished approximately 93 per cent of the groundwater we use through the creation of rainwater harvesting structures, restoration of ponds and traditional water bodies and interventions focused on improving water use efficiency in agriculture. For example, we have installed more than 500 rainwater harvesting structures in 22 states, and this year we donated over $1 million (US) to support the revival of Nemam Lake, a 1,000 acre lake in Tamil Nadu.

Learn more about our water stewardship initiatives in Coca‑Cola India’s Environmental Report.